Medicine

Recent reports show that psoriasis prescription drug Raptiva may be linked to several serious side effects including: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) Pneumonia with Neutropenia Tuberculous Pneumonia Invasive Fungal Disease Necrotizing Fasciitis Hemolytic Anemia Brain Infection Bacterial Sepsis Viral Meningitis If you or a loved one has taken Raptiva and have any of the above symptoms,…

A growing number of hospital patients are routinely given drugs to prevent acid reflux. But according to a new study, patients who take these so-called proton pump inhibitors are at higher risk for pneumonia than those who do not. The drugs — including Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid — are often recommended for intensive-care patients to…

A treatment that uses medical cement to fix cracks in the spinal bones of elderly people worked no better than a sham treatment, the first rigorous studies of the popular procedure show. Pain and disability were about the same up to six months later. The treatment is so widely thought to work that the researchers…

Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world’s largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal prescription drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages and resort junkets. Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for…

Two popular heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drugtaken by millions to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke. The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing Prilosec and Nexium cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix, or clopidogrel.

Federal prosecutors in Boston announced Thursday that they have filed a health care fraud charge against a doctor accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested after-surgery benefits from painkillers including Vioxx and Celebrex. Court documents indicate that anesthesiologist Scott Reuben has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors…

A new study has found further evidence linking hits to the head rather than concussions to the onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative disease traced back to the kind of head trauma experienced by football players, other athletes and combat veterans. “The concussion is really irrelevant for triggering CTE,” Dr. Lee Goldstein, an associate…

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults in the developed world. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. Though the reasons for any particular suicide are often inscrutable, a new brain injury study published Tuesday in the Journal of the…

St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center will host a study of a new procedure that could provide patients with alternative to spinal fusions. The Total Posterior Spine System, or TOPS, is an artificial joint implanted into the spine that can help patients with severe back and leg pain. For patients, like those in serious car…